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The 90s seem to be in fashion. Reinforcing this idea is the new Netflix series, ‘That ’90s Show’, which moves forward 20 years with the characters who starred in ‘That ’70s Show’.
Like any list, the one that follows was criticized by the author himself (yours truly), who was unable to insert “Time spell” or “Traces of the day” because he could not find them for free in any streaming.
And with this list from the 90s, this scribe says goodbye to the Marathonar newsletter. But he’ll look for another way to make a tip or two out there.
The films below are listed with year-by-year suggestions filled with honorable mentions.
nineteen ninety – Good guys
At the turn of the decade, Martin Scorsese made one of his most memorable films, unfairly surpassed by “Dances with Wolves” at the Oscars. “Goodfellas” shows a dirtier and more violent side of the Mafia. Here, De Niro and Joe Pesci, Scorsese’s regular collaborators, are supporting actors. The film follows the trajectory of Ray Liotta’s character, who joins the mafia as a child and has a familial relationship with a gang with whom he deals hits. Ambitious, he enters the drug trade and is pursued by the federal police. Pesci won the Oscar for his supporting role and gave the shortest acceptance speech in history.
Available on HBO Max (146 mins.)
Honorable mention 1990: “Pretty Woman” (Star+), romantic comedy that transformed Julia Roberts into one of the leading names of her generation.
1991 – The silence of the lambs
Ah, 1991, what a vintage. The best of the year was undoubtedly the outstanding thriller starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, in an iconic performance that has become a pop culture landmark. In the storyline, an FBI psychology trainee (Foster) is recruited to interview the notorious Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) to get some information about the dangerous serial killer nicknamed Buffalo Bill. The two develop an admiring and loving relationship as the police race against time to find the killer. Last feature film to win the “Big Five” Oscar (best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay). The film spawned (weaker) sequels and two series featuring the backstory of the characters ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Clarice’, all on Prime Video. Read the film review in Folha.
Available on Prime Video (118 mins.)
Honorable mention 1991: there are several, such as “Thelma & Louise” (Prime), by Ridley Scott; “JFK – The Question You Can’t Silence” (HBO Max and on Star+), Oliver Stone’s historic true crime story before true crime went mainstream; and “Beauty and the Beast” (Disney+), the first animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
1992 – Unforgivable
After a cowboy disfigures a prostitute, the other girls in the brothel gather money to offer as payback to seek revenge. Thus, a retired gunslinger decides to join a young man on a mission. Along the way, they meet the violent local sheriff. This western directed by and starring Clint Eastwood won four Oscars, including film, direction and supporting actor (Gene Hackman, the sheriff). The feature film became an instant classic of the genre and was responsible for a fad, with several western productions in its wake. Read the film review on Folha.
Available on HBO Max (131 minutes)
Honorable mention 1992: “Dracula,” the definitive, by Francis Ford Coppola (HBO Max).
1993 – Schindler’s List
The film portrays the story of Oskar Schindler, an opportunistic businessman, who took advantage of German control during World War II to thrive in factories using Jewish slave labor. However, after discovering the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis, he uses his fortune to try to rescue Jews from concentration camps. It was with this film that Steven Spielberg finally won his coveted Oscar for directing (the production won 6 more, including Best Picture)
Available on Netflix (195 minutes)
Honorable mention 1993: “Jurassic Park”, also by Spielberg, and the highest grossing in the history of the time (Prime Video, Star+ and Telecine); “The Piano” (Film), by Jane Campion; and “Sintonia de Amor” (HBO Max), the romantic comedy in which the protagonists practically do not meet.
1994 – Pulp Fiction – The time of violence
The cult feature film tells stories of different characters who intersect in non-chronological order, like two Mafia henchmen about to collect a debt; or when one of them has to take the boss’s girlfriend out to dinner; or that of a boxer trying to scam punters and flee the city. The edgy cast brings together Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel and more. He lost the Oscar for ‘Forrest Gump – The Storyteller’ but won a Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Available on Telecine (154 min.)
Honorable mention 1994: “Forrest Gump” (Netflix), by Robert Zemeckis; “The Shawshank Redemption” (HBO Max), directed by Frank Darabont; and “A Fraternidade É Vermelha” (Telecine), by Krzysztof Kieslowski, representing the entire color trilogy.
1995 – The 12 monkeys
In the absence of “The Postman and the Poet” in streaming, away with Terry Gilliam’s great fiction, which has even become a series. The plot takes place in 2035 (we’re coming), when a virus decimated much of the population and forced the survivors to live underground. Scientists develop a kind of time travel and send the “unnecessary” Bruce Willis into the past to seek answers to what caused the worldwide epidemic. So he tries to convince a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) while he meets a madman (Brad Pitt, before fame).
Available on Netflix (129 mins.)
Honorable mention 1995: “Toy Story” (Disney+), which redefined the world of animation; and “Braveheart” (Star+), in which Mel Gibson contributed to the wonderful world of medieval battles.
1996 – Fargo
The Oscars in early 1997 (with 1996 productions) were marked by the success of the so-called American independent cinema. One of the main ones was the great cop “Fargo”, with a good dose of humor. In the Coen brothers’ film, an indebted car salesman plans to kidnap his wife to extort money from his father-in-law. It all goes a little wrong and he’s in his sights as an intelligent, super pregnant police chief, played by Oscar-winning Frances McDormand – but Best Picture went to ‘The English Patient’, which isn’t part of none’s streaming catalogue.
Available at MGM (97 min.)
Honorable mention 1996: the British hit “Trainspotting – Without Limits” (HBO Max), by Danny Boyle; and the first “Mission: Impossible”, which is still with us today (God bless you Tom Cruise).
1997 – Los Angeles – Forbidden City
Yes, yes, the year was the “Titanic” phenomenon, but this scribe prefers “Los Angeles – Forbidden City,” period. Difficult to pinpoint who stars in the film with so many fine characters on stage, with emphasis on Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey – plus Kim Basinger in her best role, crowned with an Oscar for supporting. In the daring plot, two detectives investigate a massacre in a Los Angeles café in the 1950s and discover a connection to a luxury prostitute agency. Better not say too much.
Available on HBO Max, Prime Video and Star+ (138 mins.)
Honorable mention 1997: ok, “Titanic”, by James Cameron (Paramount+), and “Ou Tudo ou Nada”, a comedy that arrives at the end of the month on Star+.
1998 – The Truman Show
Peter Weir’s feature, which is still relevant today, tells the story of Truman (Jim Carrey), a quiet salesman who leads a quiet rut until he begins to suspect his whole life is a farce. Truman has actually been the star of a reality show, The Truman Show, since the day he was born. Ed Harris and Laura Linney also stand out in the cast.
Available on Prime Video (103 mins.)
1998 Honorable Mention: “Central do Brasil” (Globoplay), Walter Salles Jr.’s drama that earned an Oscar nomination for Our Lady, Fernanda Montenegro (lost to Gwyneth Paltrow, for “Shakespeare in Love”).
1999 – All about my mother
In Madrid, a mother gives her teenage son a ticket to the production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” starring her favorite actress. However, when he tries to get an autograph after the show, the young man is run over and dies. The mother then decides to go to Barcelona to find the boy’s father to break the news and she meets some people in the city, including the actress. Oscar for best foreign film, this feature film is considered by many to be the beginning of the most mature phase of the great Pedro Almodóvar, who later directed “Fale com Ela”.
Available on Prime Video (101 mins.)
Honorable mention 1999: M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense” (Star+), with the best twist of the decade; “Clube da Luta” (HBO Max, Prime Video, Star+ and Telecine), by David Fincher, one of the top T-shirt-selling films of the decade; and “The Matrix” (HBO Max and Prime Video) by Lilly and Lana Wachowski.
#Remember #good #movies #90s #streaming
